Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Love the taste of fresh garlic, but hate peeling it? Here are some easy ways to get fresh garlic into your meals without the hassle of picky peeling:

Just smash the garlic with the flat side of a good chef's knife and you can peel it right off.

Try one of those new plastic garlic peeling tubes - they make quick work of peeling garlic. And, they generally only cost a few bucks - well worth it if you use a lot of garlic in your cooking. I like the Zak Designs E-Z-Rol Garlic Peeler, Green

One more for good measure - try popping the unpeeled garlic cloves in a glass of cold water about a half hour before you'll need it. It apparently make it really easy to remove the skins.

Yes, you read that correctly! You can clean even the most stubborn toilet stains and grime with a can of Coca Cola! :) Give it a try - pour one can of regular Coke into your toilet, and swirl around with a toilet brush and let it sit for about 45 minutes. Give it another swirl with the toilet cleaning brush when the time is finished and flush the mess away - you'll be surprised by how clean and gleaming your toilet will be!

Monday, September 25, 2006

Always losing socks in the washer or dryer? Try this to keep those socks in matched pairs -- no more missing socks!

Use either a safety pin or a clothespin to attach the socks together before throwing them in the wash. :) They'll still get nice and clean, but you won't have to go searching for mystery socks anymore!

Last week my son came by on his way from Florida to Va and the front of his truck was black with bugs (I have never seen anything like it - it was bad). We tried pressure washing them off and it wouldn't come off! Then I remembered something I had seen on TV and tried it. It works great.

I mixed baking soda with enough water to make a thin paste. I sponged it on and let it sit a few minutes and then went over it with the sponge and all the bugs came off with very minimal rubbing. Just make sure you rinse well.

Sunday, September 24, 2006

Dry cracked feet not only LOOK ugly, but they can get so dry and calloused that they actually hurt too.

Here are some helpful tips on treating dry, cracking feet and heels:

Try a pumice stone. After taking a bath, scrub your feet with the pumice stone. Doing this regularly will really help get rid of callouses.

Purchase a special heavy duty cream for this purpose -- slather it on your feet every night and then wear socks to bed. It will help to penetrate your rough, dry skin during the night.

Some foot scrubs really help - use in the bath or shower, again on a regular basis for the best results.

Some people swear by Crisco shortening as a foot moisturizer. I know, it sounds crazy -- but they use the solid shortening as a moisturizer every night and then put socks on, as mentioned in tip 2, above.

Soak your feet in warm water with a cup of white vinegar in it, and one drop of dishwashing liquid soap. Let each foot soak for 20 minutes or so and then use a pumice stone on it. The soaking in that special solution really helps soften the dry skin so it can be removed.

To hide pimples, try one of the new concealer sticks or liquid concealers that are meant exactly to do that. These new blemish concealers not only help naturally hide the look of the pimple, but they also help to heal the zit at the same time with medications in the make-up.

An easy way to dab away excess facial oil during the day - use small squares of tissue paper or brown paper (like a brown paper bag.) Keep in a tiny envelope or small craft-size plastic baggie and keep in your purse.

Just use to dab away excess oil on your face. It works great - - and you won't have too much powder on your face at the end of the day!

CLEANING GLASS TOP STOVESCammie from KS writes:"I use 'Cook Top' brand Cleaning Creme for Smooth Top Ranges, and on the back of the bottle, it says that it is manufactured in the USA for Maytag Customer Service. I am sure that my husband got it at Sears.We have made some messes on our stove, and it takes it right off. If you keep cooking over the mess, I don't know how well anything would work!"

Marilyn in Florida suggests:"I know that most people know about the virtues of baking soda, but I would like to put my two cents in! I have spent countless hours trying to scrub my ceramic cook top to get all the burnt on foods off. I've used the commercial cleaner that came with my stove, SOS pads and even the Mr. Clean Magic Erasers. I finally poured baking soda on the food, dampened it with water to make a paste, and let it sit for 15 minutes or so. The burnt food came off in one wipe! I am now a true believer in the power of bakingsoda! I've saved money, time and my elbows."

Sewing needles can easily be sharpened with an emery board. Simply use on the end of the needle at an angle to sharpen - just as you would do to file your nails. It really helps keep needles working better for longer!

Friday, September 22, 2006

Years ago I decided I no longer wanted to clean that greasy thing so I came up with a plan, and use old pantyhose! Now, this won't work for everyone depending on the shape and size of your screen, but it's perfect for mine. The fan on our Dacor range is not an over-head fan, it is a down-draft fan. The filter is the full width of the range 36" or whatever it is and about 4" wide. I simply cut the legs off an old pair of pantyhose and slide the screen into one leg. I then stretch it tight and tie a knot on the end. When it's ready to be changed I just cut the knot and then roll the pantyhose up and toss it in the trash. I keep the extra leg handy on a towel rack under the sink for a quick replacement. It works so well, and I never have to clean the screen any more! The panty hose has all the grease, slime and dusty dirt stuck to it and my hands don't even get greasy when I remove it!

BORAX aka 20 Mule Team (in the laundry soap aisle)is a great killer of carpenter ants. Kills slugs too! It's a natural resource from the desert and you can kill off a nest of carpenter ants with it, and I imagine perhaps sugar ants too. It also reduces the spider population in your home. We used it when we had a nest of carpenter ants get into our house.We sprinkled it around the perimeter of our house outside and my husband placed it along the sole plates under the house. The adult carpenter ants are pretty tough and at first it may not seem they will get killed off by it, but their death is delayed long enough to take the powder back to the nest, and you end up killing off the entire nest. It's cheap, non-toxic and a much better solution than dangerous chemicals, which costs hundreds of dollars if a professional comes in. Borate is a derivitive of the same natural resource and often is seen as an ingredient in insecticide type of products. I've never tried this but I've also heard it can be sprinkled on carpet to kill fleas and flea eggs and then you vacuum it up! Thanks to Tammara for submitting this household hint!

Thursday, September 21, 2006

An easy way to freshen dresser drawers or musty closets is to deposit a few fabric softener sheets - choose a fragrance you like, and voila! In no time your dresser drawers or closets will smell a lot fresher.

* A more natural freshening option would be to take dried herbs, wrap in cheesecloth and tie with twine, and hang that in your closets or place that in your dresser drawers. *

An easy way to remove splinters - just place a piece of Scotch tape over the area with the splinter and pull the tape away. The splinter should come right out - and far easier than dealing with tweezers!

Lampe Berger is a natural air purifying lamp, which was first developed in Paris in the 1800s for hospitals in France. These gorgeous works of art help eliminate bacteria in the air - and they work at getting rid of the nastiest smells - pet odors, cigarette smoke smells, and old cooking odors. Once you try one, you'll love it!

P.S. Also stock up on the scented oil of your choice - you need the special Lampe Berger oils (either scented or in Neutral) to fill the Lampe and successfully remove bacteria and odors from your home. This makes an excellent gift!

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Add 1/2 cup (or more if you so choose) of baking soda to your bath water while the water is running. Soak in the tub, and you'll notice that the baking soda really helps to soften your skin. Also a nice option for anyone who has allergies and finds commercial bath products too harsh for them.

Craving a baked potato, but don't want to wait all the time it takes to bake in the oven? But, you really don't want a microwaved potato?

:) Easy - just compromise! Wash and dry a potato and pierce it all over with a fork. Microwave on high for a couple of minutes (obviously longer if you're making a few) and then pop into a preheated 400 degree oven and let it finish baking.

This way you drastically reduce the baking time, but still get that lovely crunchy baked potato skin that we potato lovers really LOVE!

PAINTING TIPRub petroleum jelly on the hinges and doorknobs before you start topaint a door. If you get paint on them, they will wipe off easily.(from my http://www.kitchencraftsnmore.net newsletter from 2001)

Peanut ButterHere's an easy recipe to make your own peanut butter - it only takes 2 ingredients! You'll also find a helpful peanut butter hint at the end of the recipe. From the http://www.kitchencraftsnmore.net newsletter from 2001.

Blend until creamy. If making a large amount, you mightneed to work in small batches and stop the machineoccasionally to scrape the peanut butter off the sides.You can make chunky peanut butter by chopping 1/3 of thepeanuts coarsely, and stirring them into the finely blendedpeanut butter.With home-made peanut butter, you'll need to stir itoccasionally, as the oil will drift to the top of the jar. Keeprefrigerated in a tightly covered jar.P.S. A great tip – when you make your own peanut butter, store itupside down in the fridge! (In a well-lidded container, of course.)It'll help keep the oils in the peanut butter and you won'thave tostir it as often. Yummy – you peanut butter lovers will love trying this one!